Current:Home > ScamsOklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave -ProfitClass
Oklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave
View
Date:2025-04-18 19:22:28
An Oklahoma bus driver is facing kidnapping charges after allegedly refusing to release students from his vehicle until they were quiet.
Surveillance video from inside the bus shows the driver, 68-year-old Thomas Young, refusing to allow anyone to exit and after a tense dispute with a few middle school students Friday afternoon in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb east of Tulsa.
"Everybody be quiet I'm not moving until I don't hear any speaking," Young can be heard yelling in the video. "You think you can get away with stuff. I run my bus a certain way I don't care what the other bus drivers do. You obey me."
One student told the driver that they needed to be home in 10 minutes to which he replied "I don't care be quiet."
Fast food stabbing:Jack in the Box employee stabbed outside of restaurant in California
Bus driver charged with kidnapping, child abuse
The Broken Arrow Police Department charged Young with kidnapping and child abuse for the incident, according to FOX 23.
Young had been a driver for the school for slightly over a year and received no complaints or similar incidents prior to Friday, according to the districts Chief Communications Officer Tara Thompson. Friday was his second day taking that specific bus route and he was running 30 to 45 minutes late.
Thompson said that while bus drivers do have the authority to enforce school rules, Young did not follow the training protocols while attempting to quiet the students.
The driver eventually stopped his vehicle on the side of a main road where students then tried to exit the bus, Thompson said. Video shows banging sounds which Thompson identified as parents trying to get their kids off the vehicle.
"There are students who open the back of the bus and jump out while the bus is moving which is a huge safety issue," Thompson said. "There were lots of things that went wrong in the scenario. The students didn't respond well, the driver didn't respond well."
'They could be anywhere':4 men, including murder suspect, escape central Georgia jail
'A sad situation'
Police Capt. Josh McCoy told FOX23 that Young endangered the children by driving at low speed while some students were moving.
"Holding the kids against their will, and the fact that those children were jumping from the school bus while he continued to drive eastbound, even at a slow speeds, endangered them and put them in a dangerous situation," McCoy said, according to FOX23.
Officers then arrived at the scene and immediately arrested Young, Thompson said. He was terminated from his job by the school due to his charges.
The school has received complaints from parents since the incident, Thompson said. The school also provided counselors to students upset by the events, she added. School officials are working to identify which students were inciting some of the issues that were against district policies, such as the movement around the bus and profanity.
"I don't think anyone woke up that day thinking that was how the day was going to end. It's just, it's sad. It's just a sad situation," Thompson said.
veryGood! (1839)
Related
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Nick Saban teases Marshawn Lynch about Seahawks pass on 1-yard line in Super Bowl 49
- Dream On: The American Dream now costs $4.4m over a lifetime
- Neighbors of Bitcoin Mine in Texas File Nuisance Lawsuit Over Noise Pollution
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- How Texas Diminished a Once-Rigorous Air Pollution Monitoring Team
- Opinion: KhaDarel Hodge is perfect hero for Falcons in another odds-defying finish
- Retired New Jersey State Police trooper who stormed Capitol is sentenced to probation
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- '19 Kids and Counting' star Jason Duggar and girlfriend Maddie tie the knot
Ranking
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- Opinion: Please forgive us, Europe, for giving you bad NFL games
- Mariah Carey talks American Music Awards performance, 30 years of 'All I Want for Christmas'
- Don’t fall for fake dentists offering veneers and other dental work on social media
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Jason Momoa Gets Flirty in Girlfriend Adria Arjoa's Comments Section
- Ohio court refers case brought by citizens’ group against Trump, Vance to prosecutors
- FEMA has faced criticism and praise during Helene. Here’s what it does — and doesn’t do
Recommendation
Video shows dog chewing cellphone battery pack, igniting fire in Oklahoma home
Artem Chigvintsev Responds After Nikki Garcia Says He Attacked Her
Yoga business founder pleads guilty to tax charge in New York City
A Texas execution is renewing calls for clemency. It’s rarely granted
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
Love Is Blind’s Hannah Reveals What She Said to Brittany After Costar Accepted Leo’s Proposal
Please Stand Up for Eminem's Complete Family Tree—Including Daughter Hailie Jade's First Baby on the Way
You like that?!? Falcons win chaotic OT TNF game. Plus, your NFL Week 5 preview 🏈